(Chapter One: Awkward Moments)
-::-
The day after the Closing Ceremonies, Katniss hid in the woods, perched in the highest branches of a tree. No one could force her to be inside of the fence and she intended to take full advantage of that.
She blinked several times to refocus her glazed eyes and studied the forest beneath her. She thought about how much more of it needed to be covered today and then looked up at the orange sky. Katniss had been here since morning and now she would go home with only a single foolhardy squirrel in her game bag. If there were snares, she probably would have time to check them, but she did not think she would ever set a single one up again. Any memory of Gale would be too painful. Katniss would just have to catch twice as much in order to provide for their two families.
All she did today was think, and think, and think. About Gale and how to care for his family, about Madge and what on Earth she was supposed to say when she returned from the Capitol, about going home and getting even more uncouth stares on the street.
Gale. Pain. Suffering. Loss of a limb. Hunting alone. Four more mouths to feed.
Madge. Confusion. Uncertainty. Loss of a friend. Being with someone else. Needing to feed six mouths and not having an ounce of energy left to contemplate romance.
Finally, she gave up on her fantasies of getting anything done today, nimbly climbed down the tree and ducked under the fence. She wiped sweat from her brow as she walked towards her house in the Seam. On her way, she considered visiting Hazelle, Rory, Vick and Posy but she did not have the courage to face Gale's family—and not enough in her bag to feed them.
Katniss walked past the rusty chain link fence and across the yellowed grass of a lawn. She opened the creaky door—the lock broke before she was even born—and sat down at the table. At least she graduated from staring blankly at the treetops to staring blankly at the peeling wallpaper.
She was so consumed by her thoughts that she did not hear Prim come inside from Lady's evening feeding.
"Are you okay, Katniss?" Prim asked, and her sister flinched.
"Yes," Katniss grunted, immediately feeling a pang of remorse for being so short with Prim.
Primrose prodded, "I know you must be grieving and I am too. But I know I can't feel it like you do since you were even closer than me with Gale, but I can talk if you want. And I know too that you have to be nervous about Madge coming home."
"I don't have that many emotions," said Katniss, shaking her head.
Prim sighed; she knew this was a hopeless cause.
-::-
The next day, Madge stepped off of the train and onto the platform. Her District received her with a warmer welcome than she expected. No one in District 12 liked the Hunger Games or admired the victors—especially not their own Haymitch Abernathy—but she guessed they liked seeing one of their own come home safely. Who would not?
Her dad pulled her into a tight hug and the cameras all swiveled to capture this warm and fuzzy moment. It would make people forget how cruel the Games were, Madge supposed.
Once he released her, she walked down the steps in a daze, her dad nearby. She answered a few questions thrown at her from the Capitol reporters on her way but did not keep track of the exact wording. She was too focused on walking as far away from the nightmare as she could get.
The first thing she distinctly heard emerge from the buzzing was Effie calling out, "Oh, there she is!" with a girlish giggle.
"Where who—?" Madge began to ask, but then she saw Katniss Everdeen and her family. Madge stood mute and Prim nudged Katniss two steps forward. Then another two steps. And another, until Prim's small hands were pressed flat on Katniss's back trying to edge the much stronger girl forward. And Madge could not move; she was frozen in place.
"Well, don't be so shy!" Effie chirped.
Katniss now stood inches from Madge and they locked eyes. It was at that moment that they were certain things would never be the same. Madge took the prompting from the frantic television directors and hugged Katniss with as much might as she could muster. It was unlike the two of them but it was far better than the kissing that the Capitol was pushing for.
Madge smelled the woods and coal; Katniss smelled Capitol perfumes.
Slowly, they stepped apart.
"Welcome home!" Prim said brightly, breaking the awkward silence and batting her big blue eyes at one of the cameras. Two more moved to focus on the small blonde girl.
Madge could only weakly smile.
-::-
The moment Madge and her father reached the doorstep, he stopped her.
"You can live at home, or pack up just yet," said Mayor Undersee. He sounded hopeful and Madge did not want to hurt him, but she still shook her head.
"I want to live in the Victor's Village. After everything I've been through, I think I at least deserve a new house. But you can visit and I'll visit you. You can't get rid of me that easily."
"You do understand that I never want to let you out of my sight again."
"Of course. But, dad, you do understand that I'm still trying to figure things out."
"Yes. I do," he said.
"I'm going to check on mom." Madge opened the door and walked inside. The home that always seemed unnecessary and uncomfortably lavish to her seems downright simple compared to the Capitol and it smelled like paradise compared to the lingering scent of the Arena.
She breathed in the scent of home, which soothed her, but not enough to make her reconsider moving to the Victor's Village. Madge ran up the stairs and spent the rest of the afternoon reacclimating to her family.
It broke her heart to leave, but she packed up and headed to the door as the sun began to set. Her dad followed her.
"I'll help you carry those things and settle you in."
"Okay," Madge agreed, not one to deter him that much.
They walked together lugging the two suitcases, walking across the crunchy gravel to the Victor's Village. As they walked, her dad told her about anything that had gone on at home. Not much, apparently.
"Do you need any advice about talking to that girl?" he said, which Madge was waiting for.
"I wouldn't know where to begin… I don't think she's interested and I need to just respect that," Madge said.
"Well, the steps to wooing a lady are simple."
"Dad."
"Madge, let me finish. First, you ask her parents' permission to court her. Then, you come to call at her house, preferably bringing a small gift. Next, you escort her on a predetermined activity outside of the home. After that, you continue the dating process."
"That's…" Madge decided not to explain how absurd that was in relation to Katniss Everdeen. "That's good advice, dad. Thank you."
"It's no problem," he replied, smiling at her as they walked through the tall, ominous gates of the Victor's Village.
Madge fumbled in her pocket for the keys to her new house, unlocked it, and stepped inside.
-::-
Peeta Mellark missed Madge's homecoming because he had to run the shop and make sure everything on the list was baked. His father was giving out free treats and his brothers wanted to be part of the drunken revelry. His mother went with the three of them. Today, they gave him the same job during a second round of festivities and he happily volunteered.
No one asked why. Maybe they knew.
He was anxious about Katniss and Madge and how he felt about the former girl. Mostly, he just loathed himself for not telling Katniss how he felt earlier. He wished he could have made a grand gesture like Madge, but, knowing Katniss, she probably would hate that. Maybe he should have just asked her out. No. That would also go poorly. Sitting at her lunch table was a disaster, so he could not even start there. Maybe he could have asked her to dance at a school function? Okay, that was laughable. She was a difficult person to be in love with.
While he was cleaning the counter, he saw her. Not Katniss—the newest victor slash mayor's daughter. A girl Peeta never saw hanging out with the townie kids when they were children, one who never became a part of the clique as years went by either. Long story short, he had no clue how to talk to her.
"Congratulations," he said to Madge, hiding the towel in a drawer.
"I don't know if that's the right word," she said softly, almost to herself. "But thank you very much," she added in a louder and more direct tone.
"Oh, yeah." Peeta rubbed his sweaty neck then embarrassedly dried his hand off on his apron. "Can I get you anything?"
"Yeah," Madge said, perking up. She seemed thrilled by his simple question. Maybe it was just saving her from more awkward small talk. "I was hoping for one of those little boxes of four cupcakes. With flowers on them, if you can."
"I can." Peeta smiled widely and retrieved four cupcakes. As he frosted them with intricate, colorful flowers, he asked, "For Katniss?"
"I thought you might ask that,' she said, sounding hurt. He instantly felt terrible.
"I'm sorry," he said, then it occurred to him she might know about his crush. "I, uh, why did you think so?"
"Because everyone asks me about the romance that doesn't really exist." She blushed. "It was really just a crush that got so blown out of proportion. I had hoped she'd never know but then I figured I'd die without her knowing and that seemed worse. And I sound like an idiot." She blushed even harder and Peeta felt his cheeks grow hot too. They both averted their eyes. "But they are. They are for Katniss."
"I hope she likes them," he said, making a point to frost the remaining two with primroses. They brought a smile to Madge's rosy lips. Peeta did like making people happy, even if he was jealous.
"I do too," said Madge. She handed him the money and was off on her way.
Peeta sighed wistfully and washed his hands in the sink.
-::-
Madge walked into the Seam without fear. Most of the town kids were terrified of the entire area; they even dared each other to walk over the line. To be honest, Madge had never gone to someone's house here before. Yet, nothing could scare her anymore after the Hunger Games.
The only anxiety was about talking to Katniss for the first time since the Games. Madge just wished things could have gone back to the way they were before. She and her big mouth should not have complicated a perfectly good relationship, but now she had to deal with the fallout.
If she learned anything from the torturous experience, it was that she had to face things head on, no matter how nervous it made her.
The trepidation only increased and increased until she found the right house. Madge walked up the overgrown path and knocked on the door. It opened slightly under the force of her fist and her stomach did a backflip.
Finally, Katniss opened it the rest of the way.
"Hey, Madge," she said, a little uneasily. It was hard to tell with her, but Madge knew it must be awkward for both of them.
Madge just smiled and held up the pretty orange box. "I brought cupcakes."
"I don't need charity from a victor."
"It's not charity!" Madge exasperatedly insisted. "They're to celebrate and I thought maybe I would share them with you and Prim. I don't really have any other friends, now do I?"
Katniss nodded. "I didn't mean to jump down your throat."
"It's no problem," said Madge. "I expected worse."
At least that made the surly girl laugh.
